Original Article Source: Peninsula Clarion
By Rashah McChesney
A 2011 study linking boat traffic to violations of state standards for drinking water, recreational use and health of fish and wildlife on the lower Kenai River has yet to make it through a review process at the state level.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has no formal approval process for the three-year study though the data could be used to determine whether the Kenai River should be listed as an “impaired water body” on the state’s biennial report to the Environmental Protection Agency on impaired water bodies.
An impaired water body suffers from chronic water quality violations.
The study linked excessive turbidity — a measurement of the amount of light that is scattered as it passed through the water column, the more solids suspended in the water the cloudier it becomes — with boat traffic.
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